"The only freedom deserving the name, is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede their efforts to obtain it. Each is the proper guardian of his own health, whether bodily, or mental and spiritual. Mankind are greater gainers by suffering each other to live as seems good to themselves, than by compelling each to live as seems good to the rest." - John Stuart Mill

The number of people who see a film hardly has any effect on how good it was. Everyone's heard of The Seven Samurai, but I find that Yojimbo, Rashomon, and Ikiru were very nearly as good.

At the same time, I would take issue with your selections, particularly Brad Bird and Robert Zemeckis. While both are certainly good, neither has blown me away. Besides, if you were going to nominate a director based on his work with Pixar, Andrew Stanton would be the only reasonable choice. Wall-E was pure genius. It was unique, well-executed, hilarious, and a box-office smash.

Vote Pieces for Pope! She didn't buy me off with the funny hat, I swear!... She made me a cardinal.

Burton is king. The man made Edward Scissorhands...and I want to clone his wife. Moral you made me ruin my shorts with baby batter after reading this.

Jesus man! you dont look for acid! acid finds you when *it* thinks you're ready.-Hunter S ThompsonReligion ends and philosophy begins, just as alchemy ends and chemistry begins and astrology ends, and astronomy begins. -Christopher HitchensA lot of people pass through the thinking I'm a guru and take enough trips to understand that no, I was just a witness. I was just a witness. -Terence McKenna

fueledbycoffee wrote: Brad Bird and Robert Zemeckis. While both are certainly good, neither has blown me away. Besides, if you were going to nominate a director based on his work with Pixar, Andrew Stanton would be the only reasonable choice. Wall-E was pure genius. It was unique, well-executed, hilarious, and a box-office smash.

Wall-E was a lot of fun, and looked amazing. All in all it was very simple story, which worked for it as far as it went. The Incredibles remains my all-time favorite animated movie. The plot twisting around a guy trying to juggle being a good husband as well as a superhero, struggling to save people who don't want saved, showed a real family with parents raising kids in a strong, realistic manner, and was full of wonderful insights like his observation that schools keep "finding new ways to celebrate mediocrity". What's more, not everyone agreed with the points he made, such as letting his super-powered kid run in races at school, and when was the last time you saw a cartoon bring up philosophy worth arguing about?

Zemeckis had a 10-year stretch of a hit every 2 years from Romancing the Stone to Forrest Gump, lots of them are still fun to watch over and over. "Those boards don't work on water!" "Unless you've got power!"

I didn't claim either of them are the best directer ever, it's too subjective a category for their to be a winner, I'm just pointing out that Burton is no clear winner.

I believe it's time for mankind to set aside the crutch of religion and embrace morality born of reason and truth. Those crutches have long since proven treacherous when the ground gets slippery.

fueledbycoffee wrote:The number of people who see a film hardly has any effect on how good it was. Everyone's heard of The Seven Samurai, but I find that Yojimbo, Rashomon, and Ikiru were very nearly as good.

True as far as it goes, but I'm a big movie fan and if those movies are on the same level as Seven Samurai, it's unusual that I've never heard of them.

I believe it's time for mankind to set aside the crutch of religion and embrace morality born of reason and truth. Those crutches have long since proven treacherous when the ground gets slippery.

fueledbycoffee wrote:The number of people who see a film hardly has any effect on how good it was. Everyone's heard of The Seven Samurai, but I find that Yojimbo, Rashomon, and Ikiru were very nearly as good.

True as far as it goes, but I'm a big movie fan and if those movies are on the same level as Seven Samurai, it's unusual that I've never heard of them.

Some of his movies, such as Rashomon, are hugely influential, even more so than Seven Samurai. Rashomon was the first movie to feature the "one crime, several conflicting stories" plot device that is used very, very often these days. Yojimbo inspired Leone's Man With No Name series. However, many of his best movies are virtually unknown in the West, simply because they're concerned with Japanese culture. Since he started releasing movies in the 40's, during the anti-Japanese backlash, they didn't come over until much later, and many western audience didn't get them, because of the culture difference. After all, Seven Samurai only recieved any attention over here after it was made into a cowboy movie, The Magnificent Seven. However, he's always been hugely popular in Japan, and most Americans who actually bother to find his more obscure movies consider them to be absolutely phenomenal.

Vote Pieces for Pope! She didn't buy me off with the funny hat, I swear!... She made me a cardinal.

The thin line between genius and insanity is less of a border than a union.

"Science can purify religion from error and superstition; religion can purify science from idolatry and false absolutes. Each can draw the other into a wider world, a world in which both can flourish."--Pope John Paul II

Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.-Albert Einstein

fueledbycoffee wrote:The number of people who see a film hardly has any effect on how good it was. Everyone's heard of The Seven Samurai, but I find that Yojimbo, Rashomon, and Ikiru were very nearly as good.

True as far as it goes, but I'm a big movie fan and if those movies are on the same level as Seven Samurai, it's unusual that I've never heard of them.

Sorry matey , if you haven't heard/seen of Yojimbo and Rashomon , consider yourself a movie fan but not a big one movie fan .

fueledbycoffee wrote:The number of people who see a film hardly has any effect on how good it was. Everyone's heard of The Seven Samurai, but I find that Yojimbo, Rashomon, and Ikiru were very nearly as good.

True as far as it goes, but I'm a big movie fan and if those movies are on the same level as Seven Samurai, it's unusual that I've never heard of them.

Sorry matey , if you haven't heard/seen of Yojimbo and Rashomon , consider yourself a movie fan but not a big one movie fan .

RegArrrrrrds , Willy

I'm with th' Admiral on this one. And Throne of Blood, while not an original script, was awesome.

Moral Minority wrote:I watch Hitchcock movies for a laugh.

*facepalm*

And while I certainly wouldn't include him in the list of "all time great directors," I really like Robert Rodriguez - maybe more for his philosophy than for the films themselves. The "15 minute (insert subject here) school" shorts are brilliant.